Training Log Archive: tonyf

Another Saturday bicycle birding. To Back Cove, Eastern Promenade, Mackworth parking, and Gilsland field. Nice spring day - runners in shorts. Seven new year birds including a drake pintail from the Presumpscot Rriver bridge. I seem to do about 5:15 miles, so that's the speed I used to calculate time - actual time almost four hours.

To Ridgewood.

My first attempt at GPS mapping on skis, in Ridgewood. Started in at usual place (first driveway) and got a variety of fixed points (knolls, rootstocks, ride) wandering west. Then did trail to houses, then trail and woods road to west and back. Then skied around the big marsh, sometimes in woods and sometimes in the marsh (thin alder). Finally cruised gradually downhill through the woods to starting point. Lovely off-trail skiing much of the time. These really are "go anywhere" woods for skiing. Can't wait to run them in spring - if it ever comes. Lots of terrain detail yet to be mapped. Snow still about a foot deep almost everywhere, though covered with lots of litter. Temp about 38F, overcast. My trusty Jofa no-wax "rock skis" that Donn Springer got at the Dover MA dump years ago, are perfect for this. .

Carried skis home.

Bluebery Lane and Whipple Farm with S.

Hand weights, ball bouncing, bands, etc in men's class. Good workout.

In class.

Almost didn't go out, but decided to take a walk to the river, and bring both binocs and scope. Only mallards and bufflehead at the river, but an adult female sharp-shinned hawk landed in a tree ahead of me at the bottom of Blueberry Lane. After some long scope views, it let me get very close under it, before it flew across the raod and landed again.

Around the block, testing the knee. It is fine.

Knee felt pretty good today so I decided to test it with an afternoon walk. Last second decision to take binoculars. Used it on a nice group on the OV trail, including 2 bluebirds. Then at the Whipple Lane feeder I flushed a woodcock, and then another one, and then apparently a third. A good find for my HPYL. Then coming back on Blueberry Lane, I flushed and chased two to four more!! Could be the same two birds, or as many as seven. Is spring here?? Max today 29 F, only 16 F below the normal maximum. Still about 12 inch average snow depth.

As usual, the left knee (that's always the bad one) felt fine while biking and took a few hours to make itself felt again. This morning it's stiff and aching, and I'm icing and taking IBs. Time for a break day anyway. I'll try a short run tomorrow, but this may take a while to recover. At least I have no races planned.